Prices, My Moral Dilema

Decorating By cakesbyjen Updated 16 Apr 2008 , 11:27am by indydebi

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cakesbyjen Posted 14 Apr 2008 , 10:37pm
post #1 of 11

I work for a bakery and i think it is pretty common practice to charge wedding cakes by the slices even if they are just sheet cakes in the back...

but i don't understand why, and was trying to come up with some other system for charging for sheets while still making money

it just bothers me knowing that Ms. Bride comes in and buys a sheet cake off of me, no deco or anything and has to pay hundreds of dollars when Mr. Joe Schmo comes in off the street and wants a really intricate design for his son's communion cake and might break $100 if he gets too crazy with the design.

Is it pretty common for bakeries to charge weddings per slice even when they're just sheets? or am i making a big deal of nothing?


i was thinking maybe doing display cakes by the slice and then a reduced by the slice price for sheet cakes in the back since all i do to those is frost and border, it doesn't even have to be level or have support like a display, so the price just seems wrong to me....

10 replies
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Steffen74 Posted 14 Apr 2008 , 11:26pm
post #2 of 11

That sounds really shady to me. I've never heard of that, but I've ony been on the side of being the bride. That's crazy!

Can someone else share if this is common practice?

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cakedout Posted 15 Apr 2008 , 2:09am
post #3 of 11

there have been numerous threads about pricing kitchen cakes the same as a tiered cake.

Some decorators price tiered cakes starting with a "base price", which includes kitchen cakes...then the price of the tiered cake goes up according to the amount and difficulty of the decorations.

Many decorators make a double-layer sheet cake so that when cut, looks exactly like the wedding cake and not a "birthday cake" piece, so naturally the cost is going to be higher than a standard sheet cake (since it serves more and is a bit more involved).

Other decorators simply do not do kitchen cakes for wedding cakes.

So you can see it varies a lot. I personally do double-layer sheet cakes (only when absolutely necessary) at a slightly reduced price from the tier cake per slice cost.

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KoryAK Posted 15 Apr 2008 , 2:24am
post #4 of 11

My tiered cakes (for any event) start at $6.50 per serving. Kitchen cakes are a flat $3 per, but I require a 100 person tiered cake before kitchen cakes come into play.

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TheButterWench Posted 15 Apr 2008 , 5:57am
post #5 of 11

I don't understand the question. Why are you having a moral crisis over someone else's pricing? After all that may be the only way they can afford to keep you on staff.

It's their policy, when you open up your own place do as you wish.

In the mean time, I say, don't worry about it anymore. Do what you get paid to do and enjoy your work.

If it's such a moral issue with you, then maybe you shouldn't be working there anymore.

( don't mean to sound mean, but I just don't get this question. )

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justme50 Posted 15 Apr 2008 , 6:08am
post #6 of 11
Quote:
Quote:

It's their policy, when you open up your own place do as you wish.




I think that's the whole point of her question. If I'm understanding her, she's trying to figure out how she should price for HER cakes and is confused by the pricing at the bakery she works at.

To the op...Not all bakers charge as the bakery you're working for does. I base my prices on the cost and level of difficulty. If someone wants a tiered cake, I charge one rate, if they want a plain sheet cake, I charge a much lower rate. I could care less what the event is.

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julzs71 Posted 16 Apr 2008 , 4:57am
post #7 of 11

I charge the same price be it tiered or sheet. I do charge extra for the extra materials I need for tiered.

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julzs71 Posted 16 Apr 2008 , 5:00am
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I charge the same price be it tiered or sheet. I do charge extra for the extra materials I need for tiered.

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TheButterWench Posted 16 Apr 2008 , 7:00am
post #9 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by justme50

Quote:
Quote:

It's their policy, when you open up your own place do as you wish.



I think that's the whole point of her question. If I'm understanding her, she's trying to figure out how she should price for HER cakes and is confused by the pricing at the bakery she works at.

To the op...Not all bakers charge as the bakery you're working for does. I base my prices on the cost and level of difficulty. If someone wants a tiered cake, I charge one rate, if they want a plain sheet cake, I charge a much lower rate. I could care less what the event is.





oooooooooh. I was soooooooo confused on this. I too charge on cost and difficulty.

I start at 3.00 for buttercream and 5.00 for fondant and go up from there, but basically those 2 prices seem to cover me pretty well and I haven't had to variate much.

What I make on a simple 3.00 pp cake would compensate me more than enough for me to go a little crazy on another cake.

I only charge extra for chocolate and edible images it seems. lol

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Colliegirl Posted 16 Apr 2008 , 9:38am
post #10 of 11

I hope I don't sound too silly, but being on another continent can put the jinks of communication. Could someone tell me what you mean by sheet cake? And being out the back? Thanks just need to understand. icon_lol.gif

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indydebi Posted 16 Apr 2008 , 11:27am
post #11 of 11

It's semantics. Whether you determine pricing by the slice or determine pricing by the cake, you can still divide the total price by the number of estimated servings to get a price-per-slice-price.

It's a measuring tool. Carpet is sold by the yard. ("I need some carpet. How much? A roomful." icon_confused.gif ) Paint is sold by the gallon.

If you tell someone, "The cake costs $75", the first thing they are going to ask is "How many does it serve".

I think you're looking at the price based on what you would pay (i.e. your reference to someone might break $100 on a cake)..... that sounds like it bothers you that someone paid (gasp!) $100 on a cake. Pricing cannot be set based on yoru personal spending budget or criteria.

It's not a moral issue ... it's not personal .... it's business.

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